


the lakes

by redrobinhood



Series: Foxes and Senators [8]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Injury Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:48:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27611629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redrobinhood/pseuds/redrobinhood
Summary: Fox and Riyo are at peace. But Fox's injury has yet to heal, and they find themselves redefining who they are now that their prior identities have been stripped away.
Relationships: Riyo Chuchi/CC-1010 | Fox
Series: Foxes and Senators [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1888375
Comments: 19
Kudos: 47





	1. something of good quality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a oneshot. It was supposed to be an in out and done. It might be a two shot but I’m horrified it might make it to three chapters. This is the punishment for tweaking the plot of the follow up so much last week. Less than 15% of this chapter was planned. I’m in writer’s agony.

Riyo awoke to an empty bed beside her and the sound of retching. She threw off the covers and hurried to their bathroom to find Fox bent over the toilet. She sat down beside him and pulled him into her arms when his body had stopped heaving, running her fingers through his sweaty hair as he rested his head against her breast.

“I thought they’d said one month?” She said softly.

“So did I.” He huffed. “And I waited three.”

“We can go to a medic in the morning if you want.”

“I’ll see how I feel.”

Riyo reached behind her for the closest towel and wet it with water from the bath tap before raising Fox’s head from her chest and cleaning off his lips with the wet cloth. After she had set the towel aside she leaned down to kiss him, gently brushing her lips against his before she pulled his head back to her chest. “I just want to know you’re healing.”

“Well, my stomach works.”

“Fox.” She chided.

He laughed. “But not my liver, can’t even process weak Phibian beer.”

“Who would win; one genetically engineered super solider with patented DNA and deadly accuracy, or half a glass of rye water?” She teased, grinning as she felt his chest shake underneath her touch.

“I didn’t even drink the whole bottle.”

She leaned down and pressed a kiss into his jaw, taking delight in the scratchiness of his short beard against her lips. “I won’t tell Jek and Thire.”

“No, please do.” He chuckled quietly. “They’d love to hear from you.”

Riyo took in a deep breath, trying to cement the moment in her memory. Fox’s laugh, the press of his head against her breast, the sterile bathroom lighting falling over their bare skin. “Want to go back to bed?”

“Yeah. I think my stomach is settled.” He rose slowly from her lap and waited for her to stand beside him before they made their way back into the bedroom together. Riyo gently pushed him back down into the sheets before she herself slunk down into them. She turned away from him, pressing her back against his body, giving him room to breathe. But Fox wasn’t having that tonight. She felt an arm snake around her waist before he pulled their bodies together and buried his face in her hair. She draped her arm over his and closed her eyes, listening to him breathe her in as they fell back into sleep.

The light coming in through their bedroom windows woke Riyo first. Finding that she had turned onto her back during the night, she slowly opened her eyes to find that her head was resting against Fox’s, whose face was still buried in her hair, though now in the crook of her shoulder. Some small movement of her waking woke Fox in turn, and he stirred beside her.

“ _Jate vaar’tur, cyar’ika_.”

“ _Kaliméra_ , _philaítatos_.”

“Oh?”

“Two can play at this game, Fox.” She craned her neck down to kiss his forehead, then his nose, then his lips as he pushed closer to her. Then she was the one being kissed when Fox leaned over her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, stroking the smooth skin beneath them. His hands were roaming over her bare torso, one thumb lazily stroking the curve of her hips as the other teased the waistband of her underwear.

He leaned further over to plant a kiss against her neck, only to flinch and draw away with a groan, reaching for the fresh scar in the center of his torso. “I’m so sorry.”

“No, no, don’t be sorry.” Riyo sat up to press her fingers over his, fully covering the damage that the sniper’s shot had left behind. She pried his fingers away from the scar and pressed her lips against the pink skin to leave gentle, fluttery kisses over the exit wound, then the surgical scars that his recovery had left behind. “I know sex has been painful for you with this bastard.”

Fox took her face in both hands and raised it back up from his chest. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”

“You did take two shots of blasterfire for me the week we met.” She closed her eyes and accepted his kiss. “And I know that you respect my opinions and will go to a medic today because you don’t want me to worry over you.” She continued when he had pulled away.

Fox laughed and brushed his lips against hers one last time before drawing away completely. “I guess the matter is settled then. Such a politician.”

“Blackmail is my specialty. Get me and a Jedi in the room and-.” She stopped, remembering there were no Jedi. Not anymore.

“I know, it’s still weird. And I was there.”

Riyo sighed and ran a hand over her scalp to push back her hair from her face. “Do you think the Emperor had anything do with it?”

Fox shook his head as he got out of bed. “I think he’s a slimy conspiring snake, and was a traitor to the Republic, but even he is just a politician, in the end. A damn good one too.”

“Has Thire found anything out?”

“No. He says the Emperor is good at covering his tracks. But I trusted him, Riyo. I really did.”

“I know.” She threw her legs over the edge of the mattress and stood up, walking around the foot of the bed to Fox and taking his hands in hers. “But that’s in the past. All that matters now is me getting you into the shower because you still smell like vomit.”

“And yet, you still kissed me.”

She took a moment to take in the man before her. The scars that stretched across his bare skin, a bruise stretching up from the waistband of his boxers from when he banged his hip against the counter two days ago, the familiar curves of his body that she had so often traced with her palms. “The logical part of my mind wasn’t awake yet. It is now.” She stepped back from him and slipped her underwear off, managing to throw it in the dirty clothes bag she had propped open against the packing crate that their bed had come in. She didn’t look back at Fox’s reaction as she stepped into the bathroom to turn on the shower tap.

Fox joined her before the water had warmed. “You know it’s never too late in life for you to become a hover ball player.”

“That toss was for me, Fox.” She laughed. “Personal accomplishments are important.”

“After you missed with your socks last night.”

“I’d like to see you try to throw your clothes across the room!”

“Oh I’m sure you would.”

She reached out a hand into the water and found it to be satisfyingly warm. “I’ve changed my mind.” She said as she stepped in. “This is my shower now and you’re going to have to wait.”

“How ever will I recover from this devastating loss of my shower privileges? I suppose I should go for a run and come back and lie down in our bed to sleep it off.”

“Are you going to roll around in the dirt too while you’re out there? You animal. I suppose I could make an exception. Just this time mind you.”

“Just this once, I understand.” Fox stepped into the shower with her. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest, head turned to block the flow of water from her face. Like this, she could feel the strong beating of his heart against her cheek. She could feel that he was alive. He reached around her for the soap, then he was running lathered hands over her body. She relaxed further into him as he rubbed slow circles in the soap on her back, wishing they could stay like this forever.

The smell of breakfast in the air reached Riyo even in the bathroom, where she sat perched on the countertop drying out her hair. Once, she would have immediately pushed it up into a ceremonial updo. But these days, she let it hang loose down her back. She didn’t know why she still dried it instead of patting it down with a towel and letting the warm air of Numidian Prime lift the moisture from the strands. She supposed that old habits die hard. Except for makeup. She’d had no issues with ditching her long makeup routine she’d once had as a senator. Coruscanti standards were far above par for her new home, and she didn’t feel the deep hunger to please everyone with her appearance anymore.

When she thought her hair to be sufficiently dry, she rejoined Fox in the kitchen just in time to see him setting their plates on crate that currently served as their table.

“Do you want juice?” She asked as she reached into the cabinets for two glasses.

“Water, please. I think if I drink anything with taste right now my stomach is going to turn itself inside out.” He said as he gingerly lowered himself to the floor beside the crate.

Riyo was beside him a moment later, setting the glass before him and running a hand through his half-dried hair before she took a seat on the ground opposite him. “You know, dear. I think we should buy some furniture. When the rainy season comes, we’re not going to be able to spend the whole day outside.”

“We could sit in the greenhouse.” Before Riyo could protest, Fox held up a hand. “I’m joking, Ri. There’s still holes in its roof. I agree. A couch, two chairs, and a table? Nothing fancy.”

“Nothing fancy, but something of good quality. You can enjoy the nice things in life with me, Fox. We’re not in danger of starving for a long time.” She’d been wise with her money as a senator, and now she was glad that she had put nearly all of her earnings away.

“I promise, Riyo, once I’m recovered, I’ll make a living for us.”

“We’ll make a living, Fox. We’ll do it together.”

He smiled fondly at her. “Together.”

“What are you thinking of doing?”

“Well, I fixed that speeder well enough. I figured I could do speeder repair, then from there learn how to fix other things. Get a small business going.”

“Could I go into business with you?”

“Do you want to?”

“My grandparents own a small farm on Pantora. My family were farmers for generations before my father became a senator. I grew up fixing farm equipment with my cousins.” She waited for Fox to finish his sip of water before continuing. “And for the record, I look really hot when I’m covered in grease.”

Fox coughed lightly, raising a hand to his mouth as he sat the glass of water down. “Then I suppose I’ll have to wash you off again.”

“I’d like that.” She winked at him.

They fell into silence. Having finish eating, Riyo sat sipping her glass of water and watching Fox try to stomach the small portion he had set aside for himself. His hand had fallen back from his mouth to his torso. Three months later, it still pained him. Three months later, she still had nightmares about it. Ones where Fox had died in her arms before the medics could arrive. Ones where the assassin didn’t miss. Once, one where Fox was never targeted and carried out his plan to kill the Emperor before being shot dead by a commander of the guard. Thire? Stone? Thorn? She hadn’t been able to tell. Maybe she had been the one holding the gun. She never told him about the nightmares. He must’ve known, sometimes she woke up to find herself bundled in his arms or pulled against his chest, but they’d never spoken about it. He had nightmares too. She could see it in his eyes when he woke, and in sleep she could feel his hands twitch as if around the trigger of a blaster. Sometimes she walked in on him holding the gauntlets of his phase II armor and a picture of four kama-wearing guardsmen sitting on the edge of a patrol transport as it flew over the city. She knew for a fact that one of his gauntlets had once been Stone’s, she had watched Fox repaint it to match his own armor, but she’d never had the courage to ask him who the other gauntlet came from. She didn’t have to. She already knew.

“Are you okay, Ri?”

She came back to the present to the sound of Fox’s voice. “Lost in thought. Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah. I can’t finish this.”

She nodded before standing up and making her way over to Fox, helping him to his feet. They walked to the front door together, Riyo stopping to put her shoes on while Fox took the remains of his food to the compost bin that sat against the side of the garage under the house. By the time he came back up, she had cleared the crate of her plate and their glasses.

“Are we missing anything?” She asked as he set his plate in the sink.

“Nothing we can’t live without for a few days.” The freezerbox and the cabinets were full, or full enough, to sustain them for weeks.

When Riyo stepped outside onto the porch, she took a moment to breathe in the air. Warm and wet. Alive. Everything Coruscant was not. She couldn’t compare it to Pantora either, whose chilly air and warm soils she had grown up in. For Fox, nothing in his life came close. Kamino, Geonosis, Coruscant. That was his scope of the galaxy. Dead planets with dead air. Here, the whole planet was covered in life.

“One of my batchmates would have loved it here.” Fox said as he stepped out of their home behind her. “Alien species were his specialty. He’d know the name and purpose of every lifeform on this planet in a week.”

“What happened to him?” Riyo asked as they descended down the staircase to the ground.

“He died on Kashyyyk at the end of the war.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s what we were made for. And we were never close.”

Riyo fell silent as they waited for the garage door to open. When it did, she pushed Fox to the passenger side and climbed in the driver’s seat. This was what she had wanted during their time on Coruscant; to drive around with Fox in the passenger seat like any other couple could. She waited until the door had closed once more and they were speeding through the trees before she spoke again. “Who were you close with? You never talk about your brothers.”

Fox sighed, sinking further into the seat and turning his gaze out towards the jungle. “Wolffe. And that ruled everyone else out.”

“I didn’t think he was that bad.” Riyo laughed.

“You met him for an hour. We lived with him for ten years. The only troopers who could stand him for extended periods of time were me and Thorn. We were a quite a trio. Sometimes Cody and his pet captain hung out with us, but we all knew we wouldn’t see each other much once the Jedi came for us. No sense in forming bonds like the regular troopers.”

“Was it Captain Rex?” By the look on Fox’s face, she knew it was. “I’ve met him. He came to Orto Plutonia with the Jedi.”

Fox’s look shifted into one resembling regret. “He’s dead too. He and Tano. Their Venator crashed. I know you two worked together before.”

“Yes, we did. She helped me lift the Trade Federation Blockade of Pantora. Which as you know, led to a bounty hunter being hired and ultimately, you.”

“Did you ever talk after she left the Order?”

“No, she just disappeared. I didn’t know she went back.”

“Cody was there. Cody told Bly, Bly told Wolffe, Wolffe told me.”

She grinned. “You gossipers.”

Fox laughed. “News travels fast between battalions. All we clones know is fight, gossip, and die.”

Riyo fought to keep her eyes on the road as she laughed. “Now you know fight, gossip, die, and cook breakfast. The foundations of the modern man.”

Fox went quiet for a few moments, and when he spoke again his tone was softer. “Riyo, if there’s something wrong with me and they can’t-.” He stopped, throwing his head back against the headrest as he fought to find the right words.

“There’s not.” She said firmly. “You’re fine. They just took you out of the bacta tank too early, that’s all. You’re going to be fine.”


	2. how the mighty fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fox and Riyo consult with a doctor on the state of Fox’s injury

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a low-stakes overindulgent love fic and I will not apologize for how many times I wrote the word ‘kiss’ today. (Mind the updated tags)

Riyo’s eyes wandered around the small clinic as she leaned against Fox’s shoulder, waiting for the doctor on staff to call them in. She remembered now why they had not chosen to live in town. The paranoia that some being would recognize Fox would have killed her. The scruff of a beard that he was growing helped to conceal his identity, but nothing could be done for his eyes and the set of his brow. Even if it could, he still presented himself as a soldier in his stance and demeanor. She would never be able to truly hide him.

“Do you think they do hypertests?” Fox murmured, moving his arm that wrapped around her waist to a more comfortable position.

“I don’t know, Fox.” She muttered back. She had never seen a hypertest, but she had been in Fox’s office when Rys had returned from a physical. She’d watched him fall asleep hunched over against Fox’s desk, exhausted and unable to keep his eyes open anymore. Then she’d watched him to make sure he was safe as Fox ran off to respond to a prison breach. She’d even leant a hand when Stone had come in and begun to stack some of Fox’s loose datapads across Rys’ shoulders. The memory brought with it an immense sadness. Not because it was sad, but because she would never see those men again. “Do you remember the time that Stone started a betting ring on us kissing on camera?”

“You mean, do I remember shoving Kilo into a trashcan? How could I forget.” He said coolly. But he was smiling. “I could have fit Stone in there too, but he had too much dirt on me.”

“Any you care to share?”

“Well, he was there the first time I puked from stress. So that’s one.”

Riyo scoffed in disbelief. In the time she had known Fox, he’d carried his stress with grace. Or at least he had when he was around her. “When was that?”

“Geonosis. About six minutes after I received my assigned command.” He sighed and tightened his grip around her waist. “I never wanted to be in charge. The burden would’ve been too much if it wasn’t for Stone and Thorn.”

“You never talk about Thorn.”

Fox went silent, and for a moment Riyo thought that he wouldn’t answer her, but he did, speaking deliberately. “I don’t have the words to tell you what Thorn meant to me. He kept me alive, Riyo. He kept me human, even when being human hurt. When he died, I didn’t feel anything. I’ve still never felt anything for his death. I don’t think that’s healthy.”

“No, I don’t think it is either.” She agreed. “If you ever find the words, Fox, I’ll be there for you.”

“About that, Ri, I think that we sh-.”

“Chuchi?”

Fox and Riyo looked up at the medic called them.

“We’ll talk later.” Fox said quietly as they stood and approached the medic.

“Are you Fox Chuchi?” The medic asked.

“Just Fox.” Fox corrected. “Your system wouldn’t let me leave my surname blank.”

The medic looked to Riyo. “Are you family?”

When Riyo hesitated, Fox answered for her. “Yes. She is.”

Riyo kept any surprise off her face- she’d be thinking about this moment for days- as she nodded in agreement.

If the medic wasn’t convinced, they didn’t show it. “Follow me.”

Riyo wrapped her arms around Fox’s elbow as they followed the medic to a small room in the back. It would add credibility to their claim of being family, and, if nothing else, it brought her comfort. She let go when the medic gestured Fox towards the exam table, taking a seat in the chair beside it.

Once they had been seated, the medic was gone, replaced a moment later by a Bothan, who introduced himself as the head doctor and leaned against the counter opposite Fox as they explained why they were there. The doctor waited for Fox to finish before he spoke. “If you wouldn’t mind, would you take off your shirt so that I can examine the scar tissue?”

Fox hesitated a moment before nodding and slipping the shirt over his head. Riyo knew that memories of Kamino and the treatment that he and his brothers had previously received at doctors’ hands must be going through his mind.

The doctor’s eyes scanned up and down Fox’s torso. “You were a soldier?”

“Yes.” Fox’s impassive expression didn’t flicker.

“Then you must have fought in the Clone War. May I ask which side?”

Fox shook his head. “I don’t know anymore.”

“Fair enough.” The doctor laughed. “Let me take some readings before we discuss this new injury.”

Riyo watched as the tension in Fox’s shoulders drained with every gentle hand the doctor lay on him as he began to quietly take note of Fox’s health. Finally, he spoke again when he had lain his stethoscope against Fox’s chest. “Have you ever had any lung injuries?”

“No.”

“Considering the array of scars you have here, that’s quite lucky. Any broken bones?”

“My cheek, once. When I was very young.”

“And how’d that happen?”

“My brother was much stronger than I was.” Fox smiled nostalgically, and Riyo finally allowed herself to fully relax with Fox at such ease.

“And this new injury, what caused it?” The doctor stroked the back of his finger against the scar in the center of Fox’s chest as he spoke.

“I took a hit from a sniper rifle three months ago,” Fox paused for a moment, then turned to Riyo, “to save her.” As was the official story. Officially, Commander Fox had died of sepsis after bravely throwing himself between Senator Chuchi and an assassin. The infection hadn’t been caught in time to save him. Only four beings knew the truth.

“You must be very proud of your husband.” The doctor said.

Riyo’s hands gripped the arms of the chair, and even her practice in the halls of the Senate was not enough to hide the look of shock that briefly crossed her features. Then she had her face back under control, and she was thankful that the doctor hadn’t turned to look at her as he spoke. “I am.” She managed.

If her voice shook, the doctor didn’t comment on it. “Did they do a bacta flush of your system?” The doctor asked as he traced his fingers across the surgical scar around the wound.

“Yes. For three days when I was in the bacta tank.”

“How long were you in the tank?”

“About a week.”

The doctor was quiet as he continued to examine the scars. “The army doctors didn’t care for aesthetics when they stitched you up, did they?”

Fox didn’t answer.

“Well, best I can tell, you’re fine. But you should’ve been in that tank for longer than a week, and I have a feeling they ripped up your liver when they were securing the bacta flush system. We can do a soft tissue scan to make sure everything is healing if you’d like, for peace of mind.”

Fox glanced over at Riyo, who nodded in agreement. “I would like that.” He decided.

The doctor nodded and stepped out of the room to fetch a medical droid. In his absence, Riyo stood up and walked over to Fox, placing an arm on his thigh. “I told you they took you out too early.”

Fox reached over and pressed his curled fingers under her chin, lifting her head ever so slightly with his touch. “Yes, you did.” His hand fell when the door began to slide open again and the doctor returned with a medical droid in tow. Riyo stepped back, returning to Fox’s side when he had lain down and standing beside his head as she watched the medical droid run a small imaging array over Fox’s stomach. She glanced over to the monitor displaying the visual but turned back to Fox when she realized that she wouldn’t be able to make sense of it all without the doctor’s explanation.

“How much of your liver did you lose?” The doctor asked as he looked at the monitor.

“I don’t know.” Fox admitted. “I never cared to ask.”

“Well, it’s healing, but I’d stay away from alcohol and other liver stressors for another three months or so to keep any strain off it until it’s fully healed. Your stomach appears to have healed, it probably received more bacta from the flush than your liver did, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d received more liver damage from the flush than you did healing.”

“He’s going to be okay?” Riyo asked.

“He’ll make a full recovery.” The Bothan assured her. “However, let me give you some senoti cream to help with the scarring.” When Fox and Riyo laughed, the doctor gave them a questioning look.

“We have a history with senoti cream.” Riyo explained. “It’s probably the reason we got together in the first place. Applying it was a good tension breaker.”

The doctor smiled. “I see. Then I don’t need to worry about any reactions if you’ve used it before. I’ll have a medic bring it in here, then you are free to go. I wish you the best of luck in your recovery, Fox.”

“Thank you.”

“Doctor?” Riyo called before the Bothan could step out of the room. “How did a medical expert like you end up in the middle of nowhere?”

The doctor hesitated, then sighed and turned back to them. “For the same reasons that many of the beings in the settlement did, including you, I’m sure. I spoke out against the Empire. And they don’t take kindly to that.”

She nodded solemnly. “No, they don’t.”

Riyo watched as Fox raised another spoonful of soup to his mouth. If he noticed her stare, he gave no indication of it, keeping his eyes locked on the sunset over the lake. His body was curled perfectly in the mossy roots of the tree, the mug of soup resting in the curl of his torso. Riyo had already finished hers, despite having drawn more from the pot than Fox had drawn, and had set the empty mug aside on a flatter portion of root.

“What was it you wanted to talk about earlier, at the clinic?” She asked once he had set his mug aside as well.

“Can we talk about that tomorrow?” He turned to look over at her, causing the fading light to catch against the scars that cut through the sides of his neck and through his lips.

“Anything for my sun god.” She smiled reassuringly.

“Blasphemy.” Fox scoffed before turning back to the sunset, the ghost of a smile lingering on his lips.

Riyo stood up from her own root hollow and made her way to Fox’s side, sinking down into the moss beside him and laying her head on his shoulder. “I wish it were.”

When Fox wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap, she didn’t protest, wrapping her legs around him and leaning over to kiss him. She hummed as she felt his hands slide up under her shirt to grasp her waist, then rest warmly over the top of her hips. This could have never happened on Coruscant. For one, there was no nature there. But even if there had been, she and Fox would have never had the privacy to kiss in this way due to their positions in the Republic, or Empire.

“It’s not anything life changing is it?” She asked when Fox had broken away to breathe.

“Ri.”

“It is.”

“It’s something I want to think about how to say for a while longer.”

“You’re breaking up with me?”

“You’ll find out tomorrow!” But the twinkle in his eyes kept her at peace. She had seen Fox be cruel, and this was not it.

“It’d better be worth the wait.”

“I think it is.”

“And I trust you.” She leaned down to kiss him again. This time, she was the one to break it. “Let’s go home, I’m cold.”

“Am I not warm enough for you?” Fox asked.

“You’re a furnace, Fox. Maybe I just want to go home.”

“We can go home.” The words sounded right to her, coming from his lips. Home. Their home.

She slid off his lap before standing and offering a hand to Fox to help him stand with her. They gathered their cooling mugs and set back down the path that led to their home from the lake. As they stepped back into the trees, Riyo cast one last look over her shoulder at the fading light on the water.

When they’d returned home, they set their dishes in the sink before Riyo shooed Fox off to go apply the senoti cream to his wound while she washed the dishes. After they had been rinsed and dried, she walked over into their bedroom, then the bathroom to check on Fox. She found him leaning over the sink, head hanging low with the unopened container of cream beside him.

“Are you okay?” She padded over to him and lay a hand on his shoulder blade.

“Just nausea.” He assured her. “It’s fading.”

“Here.” She took the container from the counter and slid her hand up to grasp his shoulder, gently tugging him upright and steering him towards their bed. She pushed him down so that he was sitting on the mattress before setting the senoti cream beside him and sliding her arms into his shirt, gently lifting it over his head and shoulders. Opening the container and dipping her hands into the cream, she reached towards his torso and began to rub the cream into the scar tissue. Fox’s breathing fluttered with her touch and she hoped that the cause of it was not pain. When the new scars were thoroughly covered, she gathered the excess on her fingers and brought it down to the long, thin line that crossed through Fox’s abs. A reminder of a time she had nearly lost him. With Fox sitting patiently before her, she climbed onto the bed behind him before dipping her fingers in the jar once again and pressing her fingers against the clean, faded scar that sat between his shoulder blades. One of the two he had received when he saved her life. The other sat at his waist, just as faded as the first, and was the last one that she rubbed the senoti cream into.

“This brings back some old memories.” He said when she had pulled away.

She screwed the lid of the container back on and tossed it towards the head of the bed before she spoke. “Like this one?” She moved to wrap her legs around his waist and placed her hands against his neck, beginning to rub the skin in slow, circular motions.

Fox let out a light moan. “That’s just the one.”

When she had moved down to his shoulder blades, she leaned her head forward and began to press kisses down the side of Fox’s neck as she continued to work her fingers against his skin.

Fox leaned his head back, allowing himself to go limp against her. “Never mind, this is better.”

“You have always been a sap for physical contact.” Riyo said against his skin. When she could no longer leverage her body weight against his, she wrapped her arms around his torso and continued to place kisses along his neck. “Want me to do the rest of your back?”

“In a few minutes. I want to stay like this for longer.” He tangled his arms in hers and took her hands in his.

“Okay.” She went back to pressing kisses against his neck, settling herself over his artery when she heard his breathing hitch as she passed over it. She could feel the vibration of his vocal cords when he moaned under her touch. “How the mighty fall, Marshal Commander.”

“No titles.” He begged.

“Is that an order, Commander?”

“Riyo, please.”

She smirked against his skin before sucking against the soft flesh over Fox’s artery until he was gasping underneath her.

“I changed my mind. I’m getting you back for this.”

She let her lips pop when she pulled away from his neck and straightened up to look down at him. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Fox pulled her arms away and stood up from the mattress to look down at her. “Riyo, do I have your permission to make you suffer as I have suffered tonight?”

Riyo could practically feel the green arcs on her cheeks darkening. “You have my permission, Marshal Commander Fox.”

“You’re going to give yourself a complex, Ri.”

“I think I already have.” She laughed. “Just give me you and your kama any day.”

Fox set his hands on the bed and leaned over to look at her. “And who’s the one wearing the kama?”

“I haven’t decided yet.” She closed her eyes when Fox wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her over to the edge of the mattress. His hands slid up into her shirt once again, this time pulling the material with them until Riyo’s chest was bared. Riyo rested her arms on Fox’s shoulder blades when he bent down to kiss across her breast. Her eyes snapped open when Fox pushed her down onto the mattress before shutting once again as he began to trail kisses down her torso, pressing his face into the contours of her body with his hands leading the way down. She pushed her hips up when he reached her stomach, allowing him to hook his fingers around her waistband and pull down her pants and underwear in one fluid motion.

Fox reached an arm up to lay across her hips, pinning her to the mattress. “May I?”

She lifted her head to look down at him. The playful twinkle that had lit his eyes earlier had transformed into an eager gleam in his dark gaze.

“Yes.”

She watched as Fox gently tugged her legs apart and lowered his head to the inside of one of her thighs. Any further hopes of watching were gone the moment his lips brushed against the soft skin and she let her head fall back with a sigh as he worked inwards. When he buried his face between her legs she couldn’t help the low moan that escaped her lips as he brushed against her. With his arm across her hips, she couldn’t move to relieve the frustration he was beginning to build in her. But she knew one thing. She liked the beard. She really liked the beard.


	3. the only safe place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tomorrow has come, and Fox steels himself to ask Riyo a difficult question

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little shorter than the last two chapters, but I figured I’d cut some of the end filler I had planned and just write some happy things.

When Riyo woke the next morning, it was to the sound of a comm’s dial tone. The bed beside her was warm, but she found that she was alone in the room. She rolled over onto her back, staring at the ceiling as she listened to the conversation beginning in the other room.

“Fox. How are you healing?” It was the same vocal cords that produced Fox’s voice, but the patterns and inflections in the speech told her that it was Thire who Fox had called.

“Still hurting, but we’re getting there. How have you been?”

“Hanging in there. The Emperor has been calling on me less, which has been a load off my shoulders; I can’t look him in the eye any longer. We mainly talk through the Red Guard now.”

“And your new commanders?”

“Jek’s adjusting well. He’s not as competent yet as Stone was in the role, but I don’t have to babysit him.”

“Like Captain Seeley?”

“Commander Seeley. He’s not too bad, actually. But between him and Jek and my own workload, I understand why you were always throwing yourself into the line of fire.”

Fox laughed one of the few genuinely happy laughs that he saved for Riyo and his closest brothers. “Thanks, Thire.”

“How’s Riyo?”

Riyo sat up at the mention of her name. Fox had been right the other day, she needed to call Jek and Thire herself. She’d never realized how much she’d missed their friendship until it was gone. She wished that Fox hadn’t closed the door between their room and the main living space. Then again, she was still as naked as Fox had left her the night before.

“As wonderful and patient with me as ever. I don’t want to speak for her, but I think she likes it here. I think she’s happy. You need to talk to her yourself sometime.”

“I will. Or at least, I’d like to. We miss you guys.”

“And we miss you. Living without my brothers has been,” he paused to find the right word, “different. It’s a different world outside of Coruscant. Is there any news on our mole in the Senate?”

“None yet. I’ve decided to back off for a while. If the Emperor is aware, I don’t think there’s much I can do.”

“No, probably not.” Fox agreed.

Riyo still hadn’t told him how aware the Emperor was. Fox had connected the dots on the Emperor’s involvement with the mole, but she hadn’t the heart to tell him that Thire had let slip to her that it had been the Emperor who had ordered Fox’s assassination. It was one thing to know corruption, it was another to find out that the man you had placed your absolute trust in had ordered your death.

“I need to go, Fox.”

“I understand. Stay safe, Commander Thire.” His voice filled with pride as he addressed his younger brother. Then the comm clicked off, and there was no more conversation for Riyo to listen in on. She stayed sitting as she listened to the clashing of kitchen utensils and pans, then to the heavy footsteps that she knew to be Fox’s as he approached the door.

The door to their room slid open and Fox entered, holding a tray that she recognized from their garage as the speeder tool tray. Today, it had been cleared of tools and cleaned of grease and a full breakfast sat on it. From his bare skin, save for his boxers, she assumed that the call had not been a holocomm. Then again, the clones were not known for their sense of personal modesty. It took Riyo a few moments more to process why Fox had brought a tray of food into their room.

“We’ll get crumbs on the sheets!” She protested.

“We’ll make it laundry day, then.” Fox said as he slowly sat down beside her, setting the tray before them on the sheets.

She sighed, giving in without protest. “Let me at least throw some clothes on.”

She could feel Fox’s eyes following her as she crossed the room, tracing down her curves as she reached for a wheat-gold nightgown from the duffel bag that still contained her clothes. She added hangers to her mental list of items to buy. They had a closet in their room, but with no hangers its racks sat empty. Once she had slipped the soft gown over her head, she made her way back to Fox and took in the food before her.

“Have I ever told you how much I love you?” She asked when she had settled into his side.

“Yes, but I’d love to hear more.”

She laughed before she raised a bite of food to her mouth, taking joy in the look of pure adoration in Fox’s eyes. She chewed slowly, dragging the scene out as long as possible. “I love you in ways I can’t describe in Basic. The only suitable words are the lyrics and hymns of those who came before as they described the love of the gods.”

Fox’s look of adoration wavered, his lips trembling slightly as he took her words in. “I have no gods; clones have no gods. But I would like to take yours so that I can begin to express my love for you in the same ways.”

“Then has tomorrow come?”

“Not yet. Let’s eat, then sit by the lake.”

“For someone who grew up on a water planet, you can’t get enough of it.” She laughed.

Fox looked offended for a moment before shaking his head and laughing with her. “It’s not the same and you know it. Besides, it’s been five years since I’ve been home.” This ‘home’ was different than the one he had uttered last night. That ‘home’ had been full of love, their love. This ‘home’ was full of family, but no love. As if he could sense her thoughts, Fox continued. “But it’s not my home anymore.”

“What is?” She hoped it was this home.

“You.”

Riyo blinked. She hadn’t considered that possibility.

“You are my home.” Fox reached over and gently ran the back of his fingers across her collarbone, passing over the marks he had left behind the night before. “The only safe place I can ever hope to return to.”

“Fox.” She whined.

He smiled as he leaned in to kiss her. She leaned in to meet him, parting her lips so that he could kiss her however he pleased. He still kissed like he had the first time; soft and restrained and so very frustrating in his tenderness. Fox had been bred for war, for destruction, for killing, but all those parts of him were gone every time he bent down to press his lips against her. Fox was never so gentle with anything in the galaxy as he was with her. It almost made her feel bad for the bruises she had left scattered down his neck. Almost.

“The food’s getting cold.” Fox murmured into her mouth when it became clear that she had no intention of breaking apart.

She gave in and released his hair from her fist so that he could draw away from her. “Can’t let that happen now can we?”

The path to the lake was soft enough that one could walk down it in bare feet. So they did. Riyo in her wheat-gold nightgown and Fox in the loose red shirt and grey pants that he had once worn around her family home on Pantora, when they had stopped lying to Riyo’s mother. Riyo didn’t believe that Fox had any sentimental attachment to clothing, barring the one set of blacks he had kept with his phase II armor- and still, that was a uniform, an idea, even propaganda, not clothing- but she wondered if it had been purposeful.

Fox’s arm was wrapped around her waist as they walked, his strides shortened so that she could easily keep pace. It may have not even been a conscious decision on his part, just another part of his training. Either way, they walked together, neither’s arm slipping from around the other, as they made their way down the path, then down the side trail that led to the mossy roots by the lake which they had claimed as their spot.

When Fox sat down, he ran his arm along the line of her waist before catching her wrist, pulling her down with him until she lay across his torso, one hand stroking down her back, the other holding resting on the base of her neck. She could hear Fox’s rapid heartbeat under her cheek and patiently waited in silence for him to speak.

“I want to take vows with you.”

Riyo’s breath caught in her throat and her body stiffened under Fox’s touch.

“Not marriage, necessarily, I don’t believe that I could legally marry you anyways considering I’m some other being’s personal property. But we’ve been together for two years now. We live together. If you’ll have me, I would like to take a vow with you.”

Riyo was glad that she was nestled in Fox’s arms so that when she spoke, surprising even herself, she couldn’t see the look of crushing betrayal on his face. “No.”

Fox’s gentle stroking ended. “Okay.”

She’d have given anything to never hear how defeated his voice was in that single word again. “Wait, Fox, that’s not what you think it means.” She’d have to face the damage she had wrought. She pushed herself up to face him, hesitantly taking his face in her hands. Fox’s expression was drawn into a look of pain, but underneath it was the expression she feared more. Acceptance. “Fox. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. But I also want what’s best for you.”

Fox reached up and tenderly wiped a tear from her cheek. “I understand.”

“No, you don’t. When we met, Fox, you were a soldier. You served the Republic under an oath that you never had a choice in taking.”

“I have a choice now.”

“And I want to respect that. And I know that this is the most comfortable thing for you. You were born to take oaths without question, to define yourself by them. I want you to take a few months, just a few, without being bound to anyone. Not the Republic, not the Empire, not me. Just take a few months to be yourself, free from any covenant.” She was really crying now, and Fox’s soft touch across her cheeks had ceased as he took in what she was saying. He had yet to break eye contact with her, and she could see the gears turning in his head as he tried to find a response. She decided it would take him too long without more incentive. “After that, I’ll have you, Fox, if you’ll have me.”

That was enough. She watched the tension leave his body all at once as he brought his hand from the side of her face to cup the back of her head and bring their foreheads together. She let her body melt into his, her hands on his jaw sliding back to wrap around his head until they were as close as they could be.

“Okay.” He said with all the hope that had been lacking when he had uttered the word before. “Okay. Yeah. I promise-.”

Riyo raised a hand to his lips. “Don’t promise. Just be mine.”

“I am yours.”

She almost chided him for making another promise before she realized that to him it wasn’t a promise, but a fact. “And I am yours, Fox.”

And for the man who had never owned anything before in his life, that was more than enough.

Riyo would think back on that moment for years. It came back to her the night before she and Fox took their vows, when she had brought her mother down to the lakeside to show her what her daughter’s life had become. It came back to her the day that Fox had brought home a handful of credits for the first time, when she had flung herself into his arms and kissed him despite the grease coating his body. And it came back to her tonight, when she was draped across Fox’s body on their couch, watching a holodrama. The two empty cups on the floor and the smell of alcohol on his breath served to remind her of what he had overcome.

When a news break began to roll, Fox turned the volume down and raised a fist to his mouth as he yawned.

“You’re turning into an old man.” Riyo said fondly, reaching up to run her fingers through his greying hair. The years of stress Fox had endured had not been kind.

“I’m only fifteen, Riyo.”

“Almost sixteen. And here I am, nearly ten years your senior.”

“What a cradle robber.”

“Horrendously so. Give it a few more years and that will really be funny.” She took in his face for a few more moments. “No. I’m going to find a way to save you.”

Fox smiled down at her confidently. “I know.”

The news break ended, and Riyo lay her head back on Fox’s shoulder as the holodrama started back up. When Riyo found her hand pressing on the fading scar in the middle of Fox’s torso, she took a moment to run her fingers over it and say a quick ‘thank you’ to the Goddess for Fox’s recovery. Her husband had healed, they had been able to provide for themselves, and Riyo’s world was at peace. For the former senator who had once held a world in her hands and the clone who had never known anything but war, this was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This series is coming to an end soon. The next story (chronologically) will be seconds and years, and that will be the end. Before that, I have two “filler” stories in the works, one between illicit affairs and no choir and the other between the lakes and seconds and years. After that, I think it’s time to start over with a new slate.


End file.
